I will try to finish the first story arc today. The next several chapters after this are going to be the first big fight and I want to release it all at once.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 015 – Hunting

Both Akiza and Akira were surprised by Akiza's newfound strength. However, Akiza still had no experience fighting, so she needed to begin training. Akira realized this and thought of a simple plan for Akiza to start training. "Go catch an animal in the forest," he said.

"An animal? Akiza asked.

"Any animal," Akira stated. "Bunny, wolf, bear, fish, whatever," he said. "Use your newfound strength to track an animal and catch it with your hands."

Akiza responded with a simple "Okay," and went outside to look. As she moved around, she found that she was even faster than before. In less than a minute, she had went from the forest near her Home, to the river. A trip that used to take her hours now took a minute. She was not even exhausted and happily jumped in the water again.

"I hope you're not using every training exercise as an excuse to jump into some water," Akira warned.

"No, I just like the water," Akiza responded. "Besides, you said fish was okay too."

Akira could not disagree with this logic as Akiza made her way down river. She went past the spot where she had found the Purple Amaryllis flowers, but no new ones had grown. Those flowers were probably rare and she would not find more for a while. She thought about how much stronger and faster she could get if she could get her hands on another bath with those plants.

As Akiza continued down the river, she eventually saw something like a lake. The river flowed into in one end and out in another. It was here that she finally found some fish. She slowly walked at the edge of the lake and tried to grab a fish with her bare hands. However, she could not reach, her arms were too short. She sat there for a moment and thought about what she could do.

A while later, it hit her. She took out her knife and broke off a branch from a nearby tree. She then began to carefully sharpen one side of the branch. "What are you doing?" Akira asked.

"Fishing," Akiza replied. She took out some of the silver tape and her damaged clothes. She cut off some of the clothes and tied it to the branch. She was going to use the branch of a tree like a spear to catch fish that way.

"Why don't you just swim in there?" Akira asked.

"No spare clothes, and swimming is for fun, not for work," Akiza replied.

Akira had to keep reminding himself that Akiza was just a six year old girl and that the logic of child was different from that of an adult. He waited with patience as Akiza tried to spear a fish. With every attempt, Akiza got closer to hitting a fish. She was learning quickly and after about 10 minutes of trying, she finally got one.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Got it!" Akiza cried out with a huge smile on her face. She had speared right through the fish and managed to pull it out without losing it.

"Now you must gut it," Akira said.

"Yes Master," replied Akiza.

Akira observed carefully as Akiza began to clean the fish.

"Do you know what you are doing?" Akira asked.

"Yes, father has done this many times and I watched him every single time," Akiza stated. "I can do rabbit and boar too."

Akira was surprised at this. He thought that Akiza was a young child who would have difficulty hurting another living animal, but this was clearly not the case. Akiza had lived as a traveler and sometimes off the land. Her father was a fisherman before he left his home and Akiza clearly picked up on her parents' skills. He watched as Akiza took her knife and removed the scales, guts, and bone from the fish before taking the whole stick and just grilling the fish over the fire.

"Thank you father," Akiza said to herself.

Akira thought about all the things he had seen Akiza saw her parents do. Even though he did not realize it at first, many of Akiza's skills were acquired as she saw her parents do it. Fishing, hunting, cleaning, meditation, and reading were all things Akira knew that Akiza was able to do. Akiza's eidetic memory was truly a frightening ability.

"Do you still miss your parents?" Akira asked.

"Yes," Akiza replied. Even though a few months had gone by since Akiza was alone, she still frequently thought of her parents. She did not cry this time though.

Akira realized that Akiza had gotten stronger. Not just physically or mentally. She had a lot of gifts and a strong will to survive. If she has the time to grow, she will truly be a powerful Hero.

"You will need to hunt frequently soon," Akira stated.

"Yes, I know," Akiza replied. She checked her rings and realized that she was almost out of food. From this point on, it will be important to go hunting and gathering to keep enough food with her at all times.

As Akiza finished her meal, she asked, "What is next Master?"

"Fighting," Akira replied. "Fighting a person is much different from fighting an animal, but I will be here to teach you. Rest up because starting tomorrow, you will be learning how to fight against me!"